Invaders, Launchpads, and Hybrids: The Importance of Transmediality in British Science Fiction Film in the 1950s

Invaders, Launchpads, and Hybrids: The Importance of Transmediality in British Science Fiction Film in the 1950s

Chapter:

(p.89)
5. Invaders, Launchpads, and Hybrids: The Importance of Transmediality in British Science Fiction Film in the 1950s

Source:

The Liverpool Companion to World Science Fiction Film

Author(s):

Derek Johnston

Publisher:

Liverpool University Press

DOI:10.5949/liverpool/9781781380383.003.0006

This chapter examines the interconnections between British television, radio and film companies in relation to science fiction, particularly with regard to the numerous film adaptations of science fiction dramas in the 1950s by companies such as Hammer. This period saw the rise of television as a dominant domestic medium, and a growing backlash against the perceived threat of American soft power, as typified by the alluring shine of science fiction with its promise of a bright technological future. There was therefore a tension within the uses of domestically produced British material in a popular genre that was perceived as American. The interaction between film and broadcast media in relation to science fiction was therefore crucial at this historical juncture, in helping promote the identities of filmmakers like Hammer, but also in supporting the identity of the BBC, and in acting as a nexus for debates on taste and national identity.

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